What was I thinking??????

There isn't a picture of this one - not yet anyway. I am calling it the "What was I thinking" sweater. I have been knitting for most of my life. I love colour, pattern, texture, interesting things. Last spring and summer I made lots of socks, cabled items of all sorts, some funky lace gloves and some intricate clourwork mittens. After all that I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice to do something simple and straightforward?"

Then I found Debbie Bliss' pattern for a garter stitch coat. It is cozy looking, has a nice shape to it and I thought it was perfect.

Right.

I am the person who when I learned to knit couldn't bring myself to finish the mandatory garter stitch scarf because I got bored after three inches. I looked at those three inches, saw that I had the hang of this knitting thing, and cast it aside and immediately made a fair isle sweater - but that story is ridiculous enough to deserve its own blog post.

I have never knit anything in garter stitch except for the occasional inch of trim on something and even that makes me squirm.

I am not even sure how I feel about the yarn. It is a nice light weight so it won't feel (or look) like I am wearing a blanket and it is a blend of alpaca, merino and silk but I am not thrilled with the feel of it. I hope it gets nicer after its first wash. It is purple, my favourite colour, but the shade doesn't sing to me like some other purple yarns do. I think I have two or three kilometres of this yarn to convert into this jacket - I was hoping to feel a little more affection for it by this point!

Both sleeves are done, both front pieces and now I am s-l-o-w-l-y working my way up the back. A small collar after that, a few hours of seaming and it will be complete - but I still don't know if I will like it. This has been an awful lot of garter stitch - a lot of boring knitting in a colour I am not sure I love. I think I have the whole "wouldn't simple knitting be a treat?" thing out of my system now. Cabled sweater, here I come! How about a Fair Isle with some of that Kauni I have in my stash?

Oh - and I have a feeling it is going to be more of a bathrobe look than a stylish jacket look on me when it is done - tall is one thing I am not and I forgot to take that into consideration.

Too bad the sparkles don't show up better in the picture. I am not normally a sparkle-knits kind of person, but when my ten year old daughter saw turquoise and sparkles in the same yarn, it was a done deal.

The best part?

When she asked me if the alpaca who gave the fleece really was turquoise and sparkly all over.

Here is the proof that I have been a "good" knitter. I made a few swatches until I got one that matched the gauge given in the pattern. I even washed, blocked and dried it before starting to knit. I found a pattern I love (Age of Aquarius sweater from Interweave Knits) and a soft yarn that will show off the cables nicely - on sale, no less. You have to love a sweater that costs less than $20 to make, even with some alpaca and mohair mixed in with the wool and acrylic.

Only trouble is, I am not feeling the love just yet. The ball of yarn is soft, squishy and kind of glow-y, the swatch is lovely and soft with nice stitch definition, my new Knit Picks Harmony needles are doing a nice job - but one full inch into this big sweater full of cables, I am not having fun yet.

I am hoping it is just because the last project off my needles was a pair of turquoise baby alpaca sparkly mittens for my daughter, and sparkles not withstanding, baby alpaca is the softest knit going. Just before that I made a scarf that was 50% mulberry silk and 50% merino wool. Maybe my hands are just having a bit of rebellion after all that luxury yarn and that is why I am finding this knit scratchy and annoying to start.

Here's to hoping it gets better, Most projects usually do - I have to confess that I rarely enjoy knitting anything for the first three inches or so. Here's to hoping that knitting up this loosely plied yarn at a relatively tight gauge will make it lovely and warm and that soon I will stop worrying about splitting every stitch.

It has been a long time since I have posted here. I still quilt but I do much more knitting than quilting these days - it is more portable! I am starting to spin, too, so there fibre of all sorts can be found all over the house!

New pictures will come soon............